Zephyr’s face stiffened.
At such a short distance, an overwhelming pressure suddenly descended upon him.
As he stared at Lucas’s unfamiliar fighting stance—
He suddenly had the illusion that he wasn’t facing a person at all, but a black hole capable of devouring everything before it.
"Flowing Water, Crushing Rock Fist!"
Boom!
Lucas stomped forward with his right foot.
He surged ahead like a primordial beast charging across the earth.
His fists erupted in a relentless barrage, pouring forth like a torrential downpour.
In an instant, countless overlapping fist shadows filled the air, crashing forward like an unstoppable flood.
Every punch carried overwhelming force as they rained down upon Zephyr.
The deafening impacts echoed like heavenly war drums.
The violent shockwaves swept outward, shattering the ground for dozens of meters around them.
Ten punches.
A hundred punches.
A thousand punches.
Within only a few breaths, Zephyr was driven backward again and again beneath the endless torrent.
His arms crossed before his chest as he desperately defended against the overwhelming assault.
It felt as though he had been swallowed by a raging ocean, barely able to breathe.
The compressed energy sustaining his Iron Body: Steel finally reached its limit.
It was on the verge of collapse.
"Armament Haki!"
Zephyr roared.
Unable to hold back any longer, he unleashed the power that had earned him the title of Black Arm Zephyr.
"Kid!"
"I know using Haki against you goes back on my word..."
"But as the Chief Instructor, I refuse to lose face!"
Jet-black Armament Haki coated both of his arms, finally allowing him to steady himself.
Then—
The endless barrage of punches suddenly stopped.
By the time Zephyr realized what was happening—
Lucas’s right arm had swollen dramatically, becoming as solid as carved stone.
A terrifying vortex of compressed air spiraled around it like a miniature hurricane.
There were no flashy movements.
No unnecessary feints.
Only one perfectly straightforward punch.
BOOM!!
The instant it landed—
A violent cyclone erupted from the impact.
The massive arena beneath Zephyr’s feet exploded first, unable to withstand the force.
Then—
Zephyr himself was blasted away, carried by a tornado-like shockwave that shot straight into the sky.
In the blink of an eye, he crashed into the Marine Headquarters building nearly two kilometers away.
BOOM!
The terrifying impact detonated like an explosion.
The outer wall of the iconic Marine Headquarters building shattered apart.
A gigantic crater formed where Zephyr struck, with enormous cracks spreading across the walls like a spider’s web.
"What happened?!"
"Marine Headquarters is under attack!"
"Was it pirates? The Revolutionary Army?"
"Who would dare attack this place?!"
"Highest alert!"
"Everyone, move!"
"Find whoever attacked Headquarters!"
"We’ll show them the true might of the Marines!"
"Anyone reckless enough to assault Marine Headquarters..."
"Even one of the Four Emperors won’t leave here alive!"
The entire base exploded into chaos.
Thousands upon thousands of Marines poured from every direction, rushing toward the damaged headquarters building.
But when they looked into the enormous crater—
They all froze.
Embedded inside the wall...
Was Zephyr himself.
Everyone rubbed their eyes.
Were they hallucinating?
Had someone somehow used a life-sized Zephyr as a projectile?
Otherwise...
Why was the so-called "enemy attack" created by Zephyr crashing into the building?
"This... this can’t be real..."
Binz muttered stiffly.
"Pure physical strength..."
"One punch sent Teacher Zephyr flying that far?"
"Are my eyes playing tricks on me?"
Beside him, Ain’s face had gone deathly pale.
"...Were we really challenging a monster?"
"Has he really only trained for a single year?"
"To reach this level through physical techniques alone..."
"I’m afraid that’s already approaching the realm of the Six Powers’ ultimate mastery that Teacher Zephyr once spoke about..."
The enormous training ground fell into complete silence.
Feeling everyone’s astonished gazes upon him, Lucas slowly relaxed his stance.
Even he hadn’t expected Flowing Water, Crushing Rock Fist to possess such terrifying power.
As expected...
The martial art created by Silver Fang (Bang)—the greatest martial artist from another world—had undergone an even greater evolution here.
That final punch had also allowed Lucas to cross an important threshold.
He could vaguely feel himself stepping into the realm of true martial mastery.
If the Six Powers represented learning to sense the body’s internal energy and using it to strengthen techniques like Iron Body and Finger Pistol...
Then the true secret of the Six Powers lay in compressing that energy to its absolute limit before releasing it in a single explosive burst, much like an air cannon.
Within Marine Headquarters—and even throughout the World Government—
There were many who had mastered the Six Powers.
There were also plenty capable of combining multiple techniques.
But those who had reached the level of its true ultimate mastery...
Were incredibly rare.
Otherwise, Rob Lucci would never have been hailed as the strongest killing weapon to emerge in eight hundred years.
The fact that Lucas had blasted Zephyr away using nothing but physical techniques—
Was, in many ways, even more astonishing than using Haki.
The two weren’t remotely comparable.
Lucas adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses.
"I had a sudden breakthrough just now and couldn’t quite hold back."
He took another sip from his gourd of homemade liquor before sighing.
"Chief Instructor Zephyr got sent flying."
"The damage to Headquarters..."
"Isn’t going to be deducted from my salary, is it?"
Everyone stared at him blankly.
He had just punched Zephyr across nearly two kilometers...
And the first thing on his mind was whether his paycheck would be docked?
Seriously?
"Hahaha!"
Garp burst into laughter as he slapped Lucas on the shoulder.
"Don’t worry!"
"Zephyr’s retirement pension is bigger than mine."
"A little damage like this isn’t worth mentioning."
"But I’d better go check on things."
"If Sengoku decides to investigate..."
"I’ll probably have to do some talking to smooth things over for you."
As the man who had brought Lucas into the Marines, Garp couldn’t help sighing as he looked toward the shattered Marine Headquarters building.
He had always believed in Lucas’s talent.
He had never doubted the young man’s future.
Even so...
When he’d written the words ’has the potential to become an Admiral’ in the recommendation letter, he had still worried that Zephyr wouldn’t be convinced.
The Marines had a strict promotion system.
Before Lucas could rise through the ranks, he first needed to graduate from the Recruit Academy and receive Zephyr’s recommendation as Chief Instructor.
Only then could he continue climbing higher.
Fortunately...
Today’s performance had erased every remaining concern.
More importantly—
As Lucas’s mentor, Garp certainly wasn’t going to pass up such a perfect opportunity to brag.
"If there’s nothing else..."
"I’ll be heading home."
Lucas took another drink before rubbing his fingers together in a money-counting gesture.
"About that overtime pay..."
"Hahaha!"
"I knew it!"
"That’s still what you’re worried about the most."
"I’ll advance Zephyr’s share for him."
"Here’s 800,000 Berries."
"Take it."
Garp laughed heartily as he stuffed another thick bundle of banknotes into Lucas’s hands before quickly leaving.
The recruits remaining on the training ground watched Lucas seriously counting every Berry one by one.
Compared to the overwhelming display of strength he had just shown...
His overwhelming obsession with money somehow felt hilariously out of place.